Diana was at a loss. She felt her weakness, and although she was still an experienced warrior, once her limbs were restrained by the unknown creature and its tentacles, she couldn't break free at all.
The Inverted Man's gaze roamed over her body, but it wasn't looking at her flesh—it was eyeing the Divine Artifacts she donned.
It drooled, as if pondering which artifact to start devouring first.
Having come to this world, it quickly acquired a wealth of information from Earth's three major Magic Pillars. That's where it learned its language and common knowledge from.
As it spent more time on Earth, its knowledge grew, along with its strength.
Of course, it didn't need to learn any magical knowledge because it was the dark side of magic itself.
Should it eat the Lasso of Truth first, like slurping spaghetti? Or the Amazon Divine Shield, like biting into pizza?
The Inverted Man was momentarily caught in a sweet dilemma.
This woman had so many divine artifacts on her. They all looked delicious. Since it was on Earth, it had to do as the locals do; meals should have appetizers, main courses, and soups.
Regarding the woman herself, she'd serve as the post-meal fruit. She did look quite fresh, and though her Power of Witchcraft was sparse, it could barely be consumed.
The Magic Power was stolen by humans from it, then divided into Divine Power, Magic, Shamanism, and other branches. But now that it consumed these powers, they would all return to their original owner!
Everything in this world had a trace of magic, a part of its body that it intended to reclaim!
That was its purpose for being here—to make everything tainted with magic pay the price...
It stretched out its scaly, slimy claws toward Diana's Fire God Sword. After some consideration, it decided to choose something crunchy as an appetizer.
"No, that won't do. That sword was a gift from me," a deep voice suddenly resounded.
A flash of black light swept by, severing both the tentacles and the Inverted Man's arm which fell to the ground.
The Magic Floating Cloak had already gone to fetch Su Ming when the Inverted Man launched its attack; it seemed to have arrived just in time. Though Doctor Fate had flown upwards, its true path was downward.
Thanks to Su Ming's extra preparation, the Magic Floating Cloak, immune to Illusion Magic, could navigate on its own.
Diana's eyes flashed with gratitude. After the Magic Divine Power interference from the Inverted Man was cut off, her strength returned.
As for whether the Fire God Sword was sent by Deathstroke, she was a bit unsure herself. Hephaestus had dozens more of these, almost identical.
But since Deathstroke claimed it, then it should be.
The Inverted Man retreated a few steps, still hanging upside down in mid-air, as if stepping on air.
It didn't hurry to attack again. Instead, it raised its bare arm, observing the silver light at the severed elbow.
"What is this? The essence of the world? Why does such power reside in a human's hand?"
Su Ming glanced at Diana. Seeing that she had regained her combat stance and could handle the tentacle siege alone, he charged at the Inverted Man.
"As a manifestation of the dark side, you ask too many questions."
"Haha, true enough." The Inverted Man shook its arm, and a new forearm grew immediately: "But we are Magic itself. How could you kill us? Come closer and see your destiny! It ends only in termination!"
Su Ming swung his Great Sword, slicing off its arm and head. But as the Inverted Man claimed, it was a manifestation of a concept, the dark side of magic. Even the world-originating X Metal couldn't erase it.
The severed limbs rapidly transformed into purple Magic Energy, rejoining its body, and its regeneration speed seemed instantaneous.
It had merely conjured a body for fun, yet it remained a concept. Su Ming couldn't truly kill it.
As the magic's dark side, its cost is an essential part of magic. The law of equivalent exchange underpins the world. Without it, magic might cease to exist.
The only feasible action now was to seal it.
But sealing a cosmic-level concept was not like dealing with the Regenerative Ability User from Marvel. Su Ming had no experience there.
So far, it seemed immune to physical attacks and fed on Magic Energy. What was its weakness?
"Of course, the door..."
Su Ming looked up, spotting the never-ending tentacle-emitting rift in the distance, forming a hypothesis in his mind.
The Inverted Man, an alien species, was brought into this world by Naboo opening a door. Before that, it must have been sealed somewhere by some powerful entity.
The rift was the door to its sealed realm. Doctor Fate, with his immense Magic Power, had opened a slit for it to enter the current world.
If he could shove it back through the door and shut it, they would have ample preparation time before it broke out again.
Opening and closing doors wasn't just the domain of magic.
In the DC Universe, several forces existed higher than magic.
Su Ming halted, retreating a few steps as the Inverted Man tilted its head, watching him with interest.
"Your cloak, unfamiliar magical power—interesting."
The Magic Floating Cloak shrank behind Su Ming, feeling an ominous sensation from this creature. It was like facing Sithorn from Marvel, only this white monster felt even stronger.
As a Magic Holy Artifact, although the New World's Magic System was somewhat different from its original one, it could sense things much more intuitively than a magic outsider like Su Ming.
Not only was it a collection of the dark side of magic, but also a reflection of the light side. Without it, magic would cease to exist.
Su Ming wasn't inclined for idle chit-chat. He pulled a phone from his belt, a purchase The Flash had made for him. Upon returning to DC, he'd charged it in the Hall of Justice.
Before coming here, Su Ming had prepared in the Hall of Justice. He'd had Batman install a new SIM, register it, pay the phone bill, and enable data traffic...
Magic might affect many things, but signal transmission was science. Until it understood electromagnetic waves, it couldn't block them.
He quickly dialed a number from memory, the call connecting almost instantaneously.
"Me, Deathstroke, fight."
He stated a few terse words and hung up.
"Oh? What's this? A human toy? What can it do?"
The Inverted Man found it puzzling. It had acquired worldly knowledge through the Magic Pillar, and mages generally looked down on phones as unsecured, inefficient communication.
But it got its answer instantly. Almost as soon as Su Ming hung up, a red silhouette accompanied by golden lightning appeared beside him and Diana.